In the dim cave beneath the cliffs, Magneto stood weakly, his hand trembling as he handed a small vial to Raven Darkhölme, Mystique.
The pale blue liquid shimmered in the light of the machine's fading glow.
"Raven." Magnetos' voice strained from exhaustion, "I need you to do something for me… next."
The transfer of his vitality to power the machine had left him frail, barely able to stand. Reforming the senator into a Mutant had come at a heavy cost.
Now, while he recovered, he needed Mystique to carry out the next phase of his plan.
Mystique accepted the vial without hesitation. Her loyalty to Magneto was unwavering, forged through years of shared survival.
"What is it?"
"This." Magneto explained.
"Will disrupt Cerebro, Xavier's precious mind-link machine. Add it to the master system. When Charles wears his helmet… it will turn his power against him."
Within hours, she left the cave, slipping into a new identity. With her shapeshifting powers, entering the X-Mansion was no challenge.
She took the form of a young transfer student and quickly befriended a quiet, anxious girl known to everyone as Rogue, or to some, Anna Marie.
Tensions at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters were rising.
One night, in a fitful sleep plagued by nightmares of his bloody past, Logan, Wolverine, accidentally lashed out with his claws. Anna, who had come to check on him, was caught in the path of the adamantium blades.
The damage was severe, but in her desperation, Rogue instinctively reached for Logan, and as their skin touched, her Ability awakened.
She absorbed Logan's healing factor, and the wounds on her body closed rapidly before the stunned eyes of those nearby.
It was a horrifying spectacle. She had always been an outsider, feared for the dangerous nature of her powers, and now this incident only deepened the fear others felt around her.
Whispers spread. Even friends kept their distance.
Mystique, disguised as a fellow student, saw her opportunity.
"You don't belong here." Mystique said, disguised as Bobby.
Rogue, overwhelmed by isolation and guilt, finally ran away from the Mansion.
When her disappearance was discovered, Logan, Storm, and Jean Grey were frantic.
The world outside was dangerous for a young, untrained Mutant, especially now, with anti-Mutant sentiment rising and unknown threats in the shadows.
To find her, Professor Xavier turned to Cerebro, the powerful psychic amplifier connected to the mansion's central computer, known as the Master Brain.
But unknown to him, Mystique had already infiltrated Cerebro and secretly introduced the vial Magneto had given her into the core system.
When Professor X donned the Cerebro helmet and activated the device, the sabotaged system responded differently.
At first, he reached out with his mind across cities and forests, searching for Rogue, searing pain.
His body stiffened, his mind overwhelmed by a psychic backlash.
In moments, Professor Xavier collapsed, falling into a deep coma as alarms blared in the mansion.
The X-Men rushed to his side, but the damage was done. Without Xavier, the school was in chaos, and the search for Rogue became all the more desperate.
Wolverine, Storm, and Cyclops arrived at crowded train station, eyes scanning the platforms. Amidst the hurried commuters and clattering of trains, Rogue sat alone, her hood pulled over her head, trembling, her pale face streaked with silent tears.
"There she is." Logan's relief and concern mixed in his tone.
But before they could reach her, a commanding voice echoed through the open.
"Going somewhere, little one?"
From the shadows stepped Magneto, his helmet gleaming under the flickering station lights.
Storm's expression hardened. "We won't let you take her, Erik."
"You're not in a position to stop me, Ororo." Magneto raised his hand, and immediately the metal framework of the station trembled. Rails twisted, benches ripped from the floor, and signboards hovered threateningly in the air.
A fierce battle erupted. Lightning crackled from Storm's hands. Cyclops' optic blasts tore through debris, while Wolverine lunged toward Magneto, but the moment Logan's adamantium-laced body came close, Magneto's power immobilized him like a puppet.
"You're not who I came for, Wolverine." Magneto said coldly, hurling him against a pillar.
"You never were."
In the chaos, Rogue tried to flee, but Mystique was faster, shifting into the form of Jean, confusing her just long enough for Sabretooth to grab her.
"Let me go!" Rogue screamed, but Magneto was already raising her off the ground with a flick of his hand, his power controlling the metal clasps of her jacket.
"You have a gift, my dear," Magneto said, his voice almost gentle, "and it's time the world felt it."
They vanished easily, leaving the battered X-Men behind.
Back at the secret lair, Rogue was restrained, staring in terror at the same strange machine that had transformed Senator Kelly. The Senator, now a mutated liquid being, had escaped, but Magneto had what he truly needed now.
"Through you, I can channel my force into this machine… amplify it. I will create Mutants on a scale the world has never seen. Evolution accelerated by force, not chance."
Elsewhere, Senator Kelly, barely holding his unstable form together, staggered into Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The sight of his liquefying skin sent shudders through the students, but he was desperate.
"Magneto… he plans… to turn everyone… like me!"
The story he told left the X-Men reeling. They understood now, Magneto never wanted Wolverine.
It was Rogue her Ability to absorb and wield others' powers that was key to Magneto's machine.
But with Professor X unconscious after the sabotaged Cerebro backlash, they were leaderless.
In the med bay, Jean stood over Xavier's motionless form, her face pale. His psychic presence was gone, like a lighthouse snuffed out in the night.
"The Professor's mind has retreated. His consciousness is locked away. This is… trauma I can't heal."
Silence fell over the room.
"There's one person who can help."
Cyclops frowned. "Jean… you don't mean~"
"Soren Macaluso."
The name drew mixed reactions. Those who had fought in the Apocalypse battle knew him.
His reputation at Everlife Medical Center was formidable, a healer of impossible wounds, a man rumored to have the power to mend both body and mind.
Only Wolverine looked confused.
"Who's Soren?"
Jean smiled faintly, a soft pink flush on her cheeks. "He's a powerful doctor… and my boyfriend."
The news caught some off guard. Those who'd secretly harbored feelings for Jean exchanged glances of quiet defeat.
They knew of Soren's strength, no one could rival him.
"It's decided." Jean said.
"I'll go to Everlife. You guard the school and the Professor."
She crushed the business card Soren had given her long ago, a shimmering blue sigil appeared in the air, and in a heartbeat, Jean vanished.
In his laboratory at Everlife Medical Center, Soren was poring over notes when he felt the ripple of space.
He smiled before turning. "You came faster than I thought, love."
Jean appeared, her eyes wide, cheeks flushed.
"Soren… it's Charles. He's hurt. Badly."
In an instant, the warmth in Soren's eyes became concern. He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"What happened?"
Jean recounted everything, Magneto's plan, Rogue's kidnapping, the Senator's warning, the Professor's collapse.
"… Erik's playing a dangerous game."
He took a breath, then smiled softly, cupping Jean's face. "Don't worry. I'll help him. I owe Charles, and… well."
"I can't say no to you."
"Thank you, doctor."
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Fellow Phantoms and aspiring Phantoms to be, if you seek to access advanced parts of this story procced to my shadowy realm of p@treon.
PhantomDream